Mattmiller captures 2025 Belmont Stakes Challenge
Tournament newcomer Madison Mattmiller bested a field of 77 entries to capture the 2025 Belmont Stakes Challenge, which was contested from Friday, June 6 through Saturday, June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
Mattmiller, a 34-year-old bloodstock agent from Lexington, Ky. who works with Black Type Thoroughbreds, took home $57,750 from the prize pool awarded to the top-four finishers plus her $66,171.30 bankroll earned over the course of the tournament. In victory, Mattmiller also secured a seat at the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge [BCBC] from October 31 to November 1 at Del Mar including a travel credit.
The Belmont Stakes Challenge featured a buy-in of $5,000, including $1,500 that went directly to the prize pool, with the remaining $3,500 comprising each participants’ bankroll and permitted to make Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta, Quinella and Daily Double wagers.
TOP FOUR FINISHERS
PLAYER / BANKROLL / PRIZE MONEY
1. Madison Mattmiller / $66,171.30 / $57,750 + 2025 BCBC Seat
2. Tony Zhou / $39,599 / $28,875 + 2025 BCBC Seat
3. James Metzger / $29,610 / $17,325
4. Vic Stauffer / $28,000.40 / $11,550
Mattmiller said that John Stewart, owner of Resolute Racing, funded her entry with a portion of any winnings dedicated to accredited aftercare organizations.
“John offered to pay the entry fee for five handicappers as a way to contribute to thoroughbred aftercare,” said Mattmiller. “It was a great idea and an interesting way to support aspiring handicappers while also raising funds for aftercare.”
This was Mattmiller’s tournament debut.
“I tell everyone, ‘This may have been beginner’s luck,’” Mattmiller said. “I have my own bloodstock business, we buy and sell thoroughbreds. I work with my husband Jake Ballis with Black Type Thoroughbreds. I usually tell him, ‘I deal with the horses, you deal with the people,’ but together as a syndicate we buy privately and at auction. With my bloodstock stuff, I have clients to do breedings, I’ll do matings, and I have a couple of runners that I own.”
Mattmiller credits much of her tournament success to a sizable win bet on Patch Adams in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun, in Race 11. The favored Brad Cox trainee paid $8.80 for a $2 win bet, which earned Mattmiller funds for a near “all-in” bet on Sovereignty in the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, in Race 13.
“Friday, as my first tournament, I was getting a feel with the mandatory races,” Mattmiller explained. “I played rolling doubles with the opinions I had, and I was sitting about top 10 going into Saturday. I played Certified Loverboy pretty heavy in Race 3, he unfortunately did not win. I hammered home my two strong opinions, Patch Adams and Sovereignty.”
The Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained Sovereignty, who like Patch Adams is an Into Mischief bay, paid $7 to win as he closed to capture the third leg of the Triple Crown over Journalism and Baeza– the same order of finish as the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs.
“I had about $5,000 left going into Patch Adams, played $4,500 [to win] and he was the favorite but with value, I was ecstatic,” Mattmiller recalled. “That gave me a boost to play the Belmont, I was sitting on $19,000 and played $18,000 on Sovereignty. Jonathon [Kinchen] has said, ‘The hardest part is playing like it is not money in your bank account, it is like poker chips.’”
Mattmiller, although a tournament rookie, certainly did her homework.
“I take all figures into account. I loved that Patch Adams was cutting back in distance. Sovereignty, I watched his workout videos, I like seeing a horse’s energy in the mornings and I remember his work against Arthur’s Ride,” Mattmiller said. “He was peaking at the right moment.”
Mattmiller said she hopes to take her seat at the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge in the fall at Del Mar, but may try to win another entry beforehand.
“I’m hoping to go. I’ve had some tournament players reach out to me and they say the best advice for BCBC is playing with two seats, I may have to look into what’s coming up,” Mattmiller said, with a laugh. “Hopefully, our syndicate will have a runner or two, that would make it a bit easier to go out there.”
Horseplayers are invited to take part in NYRA Bets Weekly Contests. Register to play using your NYRA Bets credentials, with each contest including a registration fee that funds the prize pool plus a live bankroll deposit. There are weekly $300 contests on Saturdays with a $40 feeder to those contests on Fridays. For more information visit https://racing.nyrabets.com/contests.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont at the Big A, and the best way to bet every race of the spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.